LAS VEGAS » Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip is getting a $75 million upgrade for its 50th birthday.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. is expected to announce today that it’s overhauling its original Roman Tower of rooms, last re-done in 2001. The 567-room tower that’s been closed for construction since mid-September will get 20 additional rooms and a new name: the Julius Tower.

Caesars Palace, which opened on Aug. 5, 1966 and became a Hollywood favorite in movies like "Rain Man" and "The Hangover," has grown to about 3,960 rooms spread across six towers.

"We continue to reinvent Rome . and Las Vegas" said Caesars Palace regional president Gary Selesner in a statement

Renovated rooms are expected to be ready for overnight guests starting January 1 and rented for $149 a night on average, about $20 to $30 more than before.

The iconic Roman-themed property is the only Las Vegas Strip casino owned and operated by the subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Corp. that’s attempting to shed $10 billion of its total $18.4 billion in debt by restructuring. Caesars Palace was also recently fined $9.5 million by federal and state regulators for not taking steps to prevent money laundering in the casino.

The subsidiary, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., which owns and operates 38 of the parent company’s 50 casino-hotels worldwide, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January after being bogged down by a debt-heavy buy-out in 2008 just as the recession took hold.

The rest of the Caesars’ Las Vegas properties, including a single hotel tower within Caesars Palace, Octavius Tower, are owned by other Caesars’ subsidiaries that aren’t directly affected by the bankruptcy. It wasn’t clear if the spending to renovate Caesars Palace had been approved by the bankruptcy court in Chicago where the case is being heard, or if it needed to be.